Apparatus for the pre-separation of documents

p0001The invention relates to an arrangement for Vorvereinzeln of print media, in particular of a stack of letters on edge consecutively stored letters which are laterally away a separating device and then a successor institution, as a franking machine fed from the stack of letters. Usually the letters are either over or behind each other and can have different thickness and the formats at irregular intervals. Processing such filed letters is called a mixed mail operation. The transport counteracting forces are difficult to beherschen in such a system, especially since the introduction of force to the stack of letters may not be greater than the force introduction means of transport or tours of downstream equipment on each letter. So in other forces distributing letters are no longer performed, but pushed and jammed in the device.

p0002Compared to the horizontal transfer of stored in stack letters on a successor institution, see EP 376 520 B1, there are significant advantages in that the forces acting on the stack letter weights are lower and therefore less force is required to overcome the frictional forces and forces of attraction between the letters. In addition, leads to self-alignment with respect to this edge for standing on the edge of letters due to gravity.

p0003A device for separating mailpieces oriented edgewise are stored as a stack of letters in a receiving area after another is, for example, described in US 4,615,519th The letter stack is pressed by spring force of a guided on a support pusher against a withdrawal means. The take-off device consists of a drive roller of the superposed on an axis spaced rubber discs. A portion of the roll body extends over a the receiving area opposite guide plate and is located just to the letter of side surface of the front of a stack of letter. The guide plate engages a tooth-like in the gaps between the rubber washers is Due to the spring force between the stack of letters and the drive roller a nearly constant force. It is problematic to initiate a force between the drive roller and the frontmost letter, which overcomes the adhesion between this letter and the letter stack and between letter and guide plate, especially the adhesiveness due to different weights and adhesive surfaces and paper texture can have very large differences. When the drive roller begins to slip, faults in automatic mode are the result.

p0004In the solution according to US 3970298 are used as withdrawal device, between two rolls two vertically superimposed spaced toothed belts. The mail pieces that are vertically and unsorted parked in a magazine are pressed by a spring-loaded pressure plate against a manually adjustable stop plate, which is disposed between the toothed belt for supporting the pile of letters. On each belt two pads are mounted offset from a material having a relatively high Reibkoeffizieneten and aligned in pairs. These pads are used for driving the letters. In operation, first by means of the first pad pair a force introduction on the envelope stack to separate the foremost letter from the stack and is preferable such that the rear edge of the letter early in transport direction letter comes in the area of ​​the stop plate. For continuous tape movement the second pad couple moved again before a letter and gleichzeizeitig of resting on the stop plate letter to the letter edge of the sloping side surfaces of the pad is taken and pushed into the separation device. The disadvantage of this solution is that the introduction of force can lead on the letter edge to overstate, crumpling, breaking or jamming of the letter in the following facilities and thus an automatic operation is not guaranteed. There is also the pad, the risk of rapid wear.

p0005Purpose of the invention is to increase the functional reliability.

p0006The invention is based on the object to provide an arrangement with which the letter stack is loosened, that the letters can be easily and safely removed from the stack.

p0007The object is achieved by the characterizing features of claim 1. This Vorvereinzelungseinrichtung continuous shaking up a pile of letters from a number of succession of upright letters of different thicknesses and formats, and a secure supply of letters is implemented to a separating device. A press arm presses constantly against the inserted between guide plate and the press arm stack of letters. In operation, push the eccentric projections of the drive roller, against the adjacent surface of the pile of letters, shaking this on and disconnect at the same time letters from the inserted stack of letters. The friction and adhesion forces are minimized by the shake-up of the stack. The actions forces to overcome the transport counteracting frictional forces between the stack of letters and Führungsplattte and the forces between the letters can be adjusted via the stroke of the drive roller. A maximum stroke arises from the distance between the tangent to the enveloping plane adjacent projections of the drive roller. It is advisable to distribute the protrusions around the circumference of the drive roller evenly. Other settings, such as thickness and format adaptation, as well as pre-sorting of the letters are not necessary. In the guide plate, a further drive roller are arranged in order to achieve a better shakeup in large-format letters, in order better to overcome the effect Denden frictional adhesion forces usd. When using more than one drive roller, a synchronous operation of the driving rollers is set so that the projections of the respective rolls transfer shocks to the stack of letters at the same time.

p0008The inclination of the guide plate a stable preferred position of the letter stack is achieved. Of course, the axis of the drive roller is parallel to the guide plate.

p0009The invention is explained below with reference to an exemplary embodiment. Show it:<ul><li>Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a separating module with pre-separation,</li><li>Fig. 2 is a plan view of the separation module with pre-separation,</li><li>Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the drive roller,</li><li>Fig. 4 shows a cross section of the drive roller with the recess for cylindrical moldings and Hubdarstellung,</li><li>Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the drive roller with fixed moldings.</li></ul>

p00101 shows a perspective view of an inventive arrangement. A stack of letters is vertically inserted in the limited by a stop plate 5 filling area between the pressing bracket 3 and the guide plate. 2 The press arm 3 protrudes from the cover and is parallel to the guide plate 2 over a drive roller. 1 In a recess in the deck, not referred to in the drawing, the pressing bracket 3 is guided resiliently supported, and is movable in the directions indicated by the arrows. The press arm 3 presses the stack of letters constantly toward the guide plate 2 against the drive roller 1. Thus, the normal force between the drive roller 1 and the foremost letter is enlarged, so that the letter stack can slide and always rests on the drive roller. 1 The influence of the pressure clip 3 is dependent on the weight of the pile of letters. So the influence of the pressure clip 3 on the normal force in the case of many thick letters, lower, are many thin letters to at the drive roller 1, the influence is greater. The pressing force is generated by a spring, which must be set so that the stack of letters can slide without excessive friction between guide plate 1 and a stack of letters build. It is advantageous to form the drive roller 1 facing surface of the pressure clip 3 in such a way that is adapted to the Walzenhüllkreis this surface to ensure the entrainment of a thin last letter. The drive roller 1 extends through an opening 21 of the guide plate 2, and is provided with at least one is located on the outer contour of the drive roller projection 11, see also Fig. 4. The drive roller 1 and the pressing bracket 2 interact so that by the protruding outer contour at an intermediate stack of letters a sufficient force is applied in a pulsed manner to overcome the transport counteracting friction and adhesion forces. The drive roller 1 jogging on the stack of letters and letters leads to the separating device 6 which feeds the letters individually to a downstream device such as a meter. The deck on which the letters are off falls toward the guide plate 2, wherein the guide plate 2 is also inclined obliquely backwards, preferably located 18 ° from the vertical. This allows the stack of letters be kept in a stable position. An advantageous embodiment relates to the pre-separation of large-size letters weighing up to about 1000g with two spaced drive rollers 1. The distance between the apertures 21 in the guide plate 2, through which the drive rollers 1 project is to be selected so that both drive rollers 1 before the letter is vorvereinzelt, grasp the letter face of all permissible large-sized letters. The active surfaces of the synchronously rotating drive rollers 1 are always identical contour and contour-parallel to arrange to compensate occurring with large-format letters larger frictional forces between the guide plate 2 and the stack of letters by parallel Krafreinleitung. Since the operating principle for both drive rollers is the same, even a large-sized letter raises almost entirely on the guide plate 2 and the letter stack is shaken enough to achieve easy separation and safe transport for singling device. 6

p0011Figure 2 shows the top view of the inventive arrangement with pickled letter stack. The letter stack 4 is formed from a number of unsorted, mixed mail pieces that are based on Brieformate, letter thickness and weight differently. The stop plate 5 limits the filling area for the letter stack 4 in the withdrawal direction and forms a stop edge for the approximate lateral alignment of the letters. The guide plate 2 supports the letter stack 4 from the front, holding the letter stack 4 in the stable preferred position, supported by the spring-loaded pressure bar 3, which presses the stack of letters 4 against the guide plate. 2 By means of the drive rollers 1 are vorvereinzelt the letters and guided along a path not designated to a separating device. 6

p0012According to FIG 3, the drive roller 1 consists of a base body 12, with an outer contour with at least one roll over the length extending protrusion 11. The protrusion 11 protrudes beyond the base body 12 and also is arranged parallel to the axis of revolution. 13 The projections 11 extend completely or partially out of the openings 21 in the guide plate 1, shown in Figure 1, out. In moving transfer the projections 11 shocks on the stack of letters and shake it on. At the same time at least the foremost letter is detected by the revolving around the rotation axis 13 of projections 11 and moved laterally to the feed of the separation. The force to be introduced to the stack of letters can be adjusted via the stroke by the Antriebwalzel may exercise toward the pile of letters. The maximum stroke corresponding to the distance h between the tangent T over two adjacent projections 11 to the enveloping plane H of the drive roller. In order to better overcome the frictional forces occurring materials or surfaces for the projections are preferably 11 to select which allow optimum entrainment of the letter. Particularly suitable is a polyurethane material. For example, in documents with too low friction coefficient, a slipping effect occur, which does not guarantee a safe transport. If the friction coefficient is too large, stacking partners are indeed transported safely, but with so much force that the letters can get stuck in the separation device. It is advantageous to arrange the projections 11 interchangeable.

p00134 shows a drive roller according to the invention with recesses for cylindrical moldings. In the cylindrical body 13 of the drive roller 1 are cylinder-segment-shaped recesses 121, greater than a half-cylinder, formed. In these recesses cylindrical moldings are 111 non-positive and inserted form-fitting. The mold parts 111 are to be arranged preferably distributed around the circumference of the base body 13 the same distance. The geometric shape of the mold parts 111 is not limited to that of these embodiments, there are various geometrical structures used, which should advantageously no sharp contour on the friction surfaces.

p0014Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of the attachment of projections on the outer contour of the drive roller. On the main body 12 are equally spaced and fixed parallel axes mounted cylinder segments moldings 112th

Numeral used

p0015<dl id="dl0001"><dt>1</dt><dd>drive roller</dd><dt>11</dt><dd>head Start</dd><dt>111</dt><dd>Cylindrical molding</dd><dt>112</dt><dd>Cylinder segment-shaped molding</dd><dt>12</dt><dd>basic body</dd><dt>121</dt><dd>Cylinder segment-shaped recess in the base body</dd><dt>13</dt><dd>axis of revolution</dd><dt>2</dt><dd>guide plate</dd><dt>21</dt><dd>Opening / s in the guide plate</dd><dt>3</dt><dd>Press Arm</dd><dt>4</dt><dd>stack of letters</dd><dt>5</dt><dd>stop plate</dd><dt>6</dt><dd>separating device</dd><dt>H</dt><dd>Distance between tangent T and enveloping plane H</dd><dt>H</dt><dd>Cylindrical shell Bene</dd><dt>T</dt><dd>tangent</dd></dl>